Leiden is the main center for biomedical research in the Netherlands, so the decision of the Japanese pharmaceutical concern Astellas to be based there is more than understandable.
The Mirai House building is located in a science park, next to the buildings of Leiden University. High-tech scientific research requires a special security regime, but the architects did not take the path of turning the building into a fortress. On the contrary, the glazing of the facades and the visual connections of the different zones within the building create an atmosphere of openness.
At the same time, most visitors can only get into the southeast-facing lobby. It is designed as a spacious hotel lobby with views of both the street and the courtyard garden, designed in the Japanese spirit. There are also meeting rooms.
To the west of the courtyard there is a 6-storey building with offices (11,200 m2), where on the ground floor there is a cafe with a terrace, to the east there are 4 floors of laboratories (5,500 m2). Flexible layout made it possible to make 89-90% of the total area usable.
The glazed facades have aluminum slats painted in anime contrasting colors. On the north side, they reach a width of only 4 cm, but on the other facades they are 20-30 cm stripes, combined with 90-cm parapets. In addition, the glass panels are coated with a compound that reduces their thermal conductivity.
